Mark Cuban is considering a run for president

Speculation surrounding Mark Cuban's candidacy has been swirling since before the 2016 presidential election.

Author:
Andrew Clark, andrew.clark@indystar.com , TEGNA

Published:
2:02 PM EDT October 4, 2017

Business mogul, "Shark Tank" regular, Indiana University graduate, NBA team owner and … president of the United States?

A definite maybe?

All of these titles may someday be true of Mark Cuban, who said on a podcast Monday that he is considering a 2020 presidential run.

Speculation surrounding Cuban's candidacy has been swirling since before the 2016 presidential election. Cuban has never shut the door on the possibility, and — perhaps — further opened that door with his Monday remarks.

"Considering? Yes," he said on "ViewPoint with Bakari Sellers," who is a former Democratic representative for the state of South Carolina. "Ready to commit to it? No."

Cuban said it would make sense for him to run if he could come up with solutions that would benefit Americans. But the tech guru also said he would not run for the nation's highest office just for the sake of being able to earn more votes than an opponent.

Before he confirmed that he was considering running for president, Cuban openly discussed with Sellers where he stands on multiple political issues. Cuban called himself "an independent all the way through" and said the issues most important to him include economic inequality, health care, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship.

Cuban said on the podcast that he has "no problem with health care being a right" if he were able to figure out a way to pay for it, that he is "not a fan of net neutrality" and that he would have "no problem raising taxes on wealthy people like (myself)."

Sellers asked Cuban if he thinks President Donald Trump has "poisoned the well" for other business executives considering running for office. Cuban answered "maybe," and added that "anybody who knows me (or) talks to me isn't going to think I'm anything like Donald Trump."

Cuban also said on the podcast that he doesn't take issue with Trump running his businesses while holding office. However, he said Trump's lack of transparency about his business ventures while being president is a problem. Cuban added that he would release his tax returns if asked, something that other presidential candidates traditionally do, but also something that Trump has, so far, refused to do.

Cuban openly opposes Trump, who tweeted in February that Cuban is not smart enough to run for president. Cuban also endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in the 2016 election.

Cuban graduated from Indiana University in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in business. He also has owned a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks since 2000.

You can listen to the entire ViewPoint with Bakari Sellers podcast for free on iTunes.